News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-07-28

Right in front, just stirred into
choppy sunlt waves by mild June
breeze, lay that stretch of water. famous
III sea literature, "The Downs" Away
to the right, in the haze of distaDce.
stood out the bold point of the south
toreland, and under its shadow the
quaint little town of Deal. To the left
is the North Sea, covered with shipping
OF all description and from every part Of
the world, heading for or sailing from
the mouth OF the river Thames. Across
The Downs, but giving no SIGNS of
their existence, are the Goodwin sands.
forming sort of chamber of horrors of
the deep. Luggers and full-rigged
smps, steam yachts and great ocean
liners, rowboats and men-of-war, all
pass, as II IN review, from morning till
night, and when darkness comes down
the lights of hundred vessels are seen.
with now and then the fierce glare of n
lighthouse OF Hghtship. Such is the
sight from the garden of W. Clark
Russell, most famous of mo.lern sea /
novelists, on the island of Thanet, Kent, /
England. To the left of you as you look
seaward is ''Broadstairs'' and to the
right ''Ramsgate."
81 consider this a very beautiful /
view" said Mr.. Russell, as he sat down
on a garden chair
A well-kept lawn sloped down to the
edge of the cliff, at the foot Of which the
waves rippled and splashed.
''During the day there is always a
grand view out on the water, and at
night it is no rare occurrence for us to
hear the boom of the distress gun, tell
ing that some unfortunate ship is
caught on the Goodwin sands. It's an
awful place out there III bad weather.
The lifeboat that rides under the pro-
lection of that stone pier to the right
has very little rest in bad weather, [ tell
you. This is one of my favorite spots
this lawn. / can sit and watch the pro-
cession of ships as they go out or come
in, and by a stretch of imagination
almost believe there is some romance in
a sailors life, after all. Then the sun
and the sea air are good for my rheUuna-
tism. / have suffered very much from
rheumatism, and still suffer, although
am now rapidly recovering.
The author of ''The Wreck of the
Grosvenor," ''The Sailors Sweetheart
and the number of other exquisite sea
stories, as he sat looking over the sea,
appeared to be a man slightly under
medium height. His closely cropped
moustache and well-trimmed hair were
tinged with gray, although the wearer
had Just reached his 43d year. His face
looked younger than his years, and his
eyes are particularly bright and clear.
81 suppose took to the sea as most
boys do-in order TO see the world and
meet adventures. / had an idea q
sailors life was very POmatic. Any one
who reads my books will find that that
idea has long since faded from my mind.
I began sailing early, being only IS!
wears old when I shipped as midshiD-
man on the Duncan Dunbar, sailing
from London to Sidney. Ny father
paid the usual price to the ships owners
ninety gulneas for the first trip,
eighty for the second and seventy fol
the third. There were ten middies
aboard, so YOU see even before the ship
left the docks in London the owners had
made quite a sum of money out of her.
After leaving the Duncan Dunbar
shipped on the H0ugTImOnt and had
rather a varied experience. The first
trip on her we sailed from London to
Madras with troops, intending then to
90 TO Calcutta for cargo and home
war with China broke out and we were
again turned ino troop ship, and first
taking a lot of soldiers to Hong Kong
we then proceeded further North. After
landing the remainder of our troops we
lay for ten months wallowing III the Bay
of Petcheli off the mouth if the Peiho
River, doing nothing. Now, [ cannot
imagine anything so dreadfully monOt-
onous and dreary and generally unbeur-
able as living on board ship for ten
months, and that ship lying at anchor.
| got satutated with the sea, / tell you.
Salt pork and sea biscuit are all very
wall to read about, but actually living
ON such diet is quite different thing
and not 50 rOmatic. During the fol
lowing seven years l made great many
trips to different parts Of the world, but
when 1 reached my Both year L gave up
sailing. What made me give it up.
Well, to tell the truth, sheer disgust.
1t was dogs life with no future before
It, and I resolved to leave the sea
During the time | sailed I worked III
10 be fourth and then third mate, anC
took out my papers for second mate, bu
there | stopped and resolved to try my
luck on shore. [ was completely tired
of the sea.
"Well, when 1 arrived home [ didn'
know what to turn to, and my fathe
didn't know what to put me to either
/ knew no profession. My education
had not been particularly brilliant and
way not much in the ways of the land
First tried bank That lasted thre
months. l spent most of my time ant
money IN riding around in hanson cab
and making blunders in business. Tha
was failure. Then me father though
me suited for the Stock Exchange. Tha
lasted four months, but l hatter mysel
that, limited as my opportunities were
/ gave the older members some fey
wrinkles in quotations. [ could not fo
the life of me remember fractions. Did
mt much know the difference betweel
three-sixteenths and four-twenty -frsts